cue The head-To-Desk *thud*

The copier at work keeps jamming and it's confusing our elderly staff and the not-quite-so technology savvy folks. Not surprisingly, these two groups are comprised of the exact same people.

Not my point.

The tricky thing about this new phenomenon is that the copier is not actually jamming, it only thinks it's jammed.  And we discovered the reason for this: the paper (in the paper drawer) was stacked well beyond the yellow line saying, "Do Not Stack Beyond This Point."  The sensors in the copier were triggered by the exceeding height and so signaled that there was a paper jam.

Blockhead is the one who re-stocks the paper in the copier, and I've seen him put in copious amounts before, but didn't say anything because he always stayed below the yellow warning line.  Obviously it's gotten out of hand, so I approached him on the subject today:

"By the way, the copier keeps jamming because the paper is too full.  I think it's triggering the sensors, so we need to keep it well below this yellow line.  See?  Okay."

His response: "Yeah, sure. And also, we need to get this looked at by Facilities or somethin' because the toner is leakin'."

I just gave him a blank stare.  First of all: it's not leaking.  He replaced the toner for the first time yesterday and it got all over the place, but that's what toner does. It's not "leaking."  Secondly: why are you telling me about repairs that the copier may (or may not) need?  I'm not in charge of that sort of thing AND YOU KNOW THAT.  I can't DO anything about that.  I have NO authority to call for maintenance, nor would I know who to call.  The person you want to talk to about that is right there (finger point) in the other room.

I think I said something like, "Okay...well, in the future, let's not fill that drawer clear up to the top, okay? I think that'll solve our jamming problem."

Blockhead: "Right, right. How long have we had this copier anyway?  You know how many departments have been usin' it, don't you? (and then he listed off all the departments, including some made-up ones)  No wonder it gets so much use, huh? Yeah, this old machine, it gets used a whole lot."

I think we're having a communication problem at this point.  I didn't want to have a polite conversation about our office copier.  I wanted to bring to your attention a behavior of yours, which I have repeatedly witnessed, that was causing problems in hopes that you would acquiesce to stop repeating said behavior.  Once we got past that point, I had imagined that our conversation would be over.  The things that you're saying make no sense to me; they have nothing to do with the original reason for our brief verbal exchange.

I'm sorry I confused you.  I will try to more thoroughly clarify my intentions next time.